Los Parralejos,
Vejer de la Frontera,
Vejer de la Frontera,
11150,
ES

Red Review

Some hotels just get it right, and Casa La Siesta is one of them. British twenty-somethings Lee and Amelia Thornley were at a low ebb when they met at a language school in Vejer, but things picked up rapidly from there: first they bought an apartment, then a modest farmhouse, then they turned the farmhouse into a boutique hotel using reclaimed materials.

Five minutes outside the whitewashed Moorish town of Vejer de la Frontera, the hacienda-inspired hotel blends in beautifully with the setting of rolling pastureland. Roll-top baths, monsoon showers and Ren products add sex appeal to the studded wooden doors, antique beams, stripped doors and stone arches. The outdoor areas are equally romantic, with little tables set in gardens of olive trees, lavender, rosemary and box bushes, along with a chill-out corner under a pergola, and a 12-metre outdoor pool.

The food served at the hotels restaurant is delicious - Amelia used to work in catering and a three-course set menu, largely using produce from the local area, is served up five nights a week. There are more good restaurants in and around Vejer, while during the day there are great beaches at Los Caños de Meca and El Palmar and horseriding at nearby Finca La Maya to keep you busy.

Highs:

- The low-key sophistication of the décor and food

- The sense of peace and space

- The fact its also available on an exclusive-use basis

Lows:

- You have to get in the car to go anywhere, unless you fancy a jaunt on one of the hotels bikes

- The wind turbines might spoil the view for some

Facilities & Important Info at Casa La Siesta

Number of rooms: Seven, plus one apartment (the Casita)

Check-in/check-out times: 2.30pm and 12noon

Room service: Not officially. But requests such as romantic dinners à deux can be catered for

Child-friendly: Not massively. They have to be 12 or older, or 10 in the Casita (unless you take the whole property)

Dogs welcome: No

Restaurant & bar: Lunch daily and a three-course dinner five nights a week, using produce from the Casas kitchen garden and local suppliers, and a bijou bodega with wines from select, independent producers.

Location: In rolling pastureland, five minutes drive from the labyrinthine, hilltop pueblo blanco of Vejer de la Frontera

Insider fact: On 21 October 1805, the sound of canon fire echoed through Vejer, as Nelson lead the British Navy to victory over Napoleon at nearby Cape Trafalgar. (Slightly less momentously, the Thornleys also run a reclamation and furniture business, The Spanish Yard.)